This invention relates to tire changing apparatus equipped with tire bead seating means, and more particularly, to a tire changer of the type having a rotatable wheel support.
A variety of tire changing apparatus presently available may include means for seating beads of a tire on a wheel while the wheel is received on the tire changer. In the case of tire changers of the type having a stationary wheel supporting table and a rotatable center post, the bead seating apparatus will typically be in the form of a plurality of jets at differing locations on the tire changer which direct air to the interface of the wheel rim and the tire thereon to cause a pressure differential to come into existence so that the bead sealingly engages the rim. Such apparatus have worked well for their intended purpose.
In tire changers of the type wherein the wheel is received on a rotatable table, the bead seating apparatus will generally be in either of two forms. In one case, a plurality of nozzles may be employed at fixed locations or, a structure having one or more nozzles may be brought into engagement with the wheel and/or tire. Neither form has operated as efficiently as might be desired. In the case of the form wherein nozzles are located at fixed locations, some difficulty may be experienced in reliably seating the beads on a wide variety of wheel sizes since the angle of attack of the air stream cannot be optimized for all wheel sizes due to the fixed location of the nozzles.
In the case of changers wherein a structure having one or more nozzles is applied to the tire, a physical act is required on the part of the operator of the tire changer which requires time to perform and thereby lessens the efficiency of the overall tire changing operation.